Help a complete newbie to overclocking

[Zandareagle]

Hello everyone! Like it says above I am a complete newbie to overclocking - have never done it before. I'm also not that good with computers, which I why I am seeking advice I guess.

I've read some articles online and watched a few videos but I still have plenty of questions.

Ok, a bit of background. Basically, I recently bought a Geforce 730 and I want to get the most use that I can out of it. Yeah, I know it is a terrible card (I was using a 275 before that) and it's a long story. But as I already have it, I might as well use it.

1. So I got MSI Afterburner and played around with it a bit. However, there was no noticeable improvement in the graphics or the framerate of the game I was playing at that time (Final Fantasy 14 to be exact) Am I doing something wrong?

2. When I use the Nvidia Control Panel, it goes up to a higher maximum core clock than MSI Afterburner can. Is this desirable? Should I not push it?

3. I should only adjust the memory clock when my core clock settings are stable right?

4. Is it ok to push the fan as high as it can go?

5. Would it be worth overclocking anything besides the GPU? (CPU etc)

Oh yeah, before I forget, some system specs :

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
System Manufacturer: INTEL_
System Model: DH61WW__
BIOS: IBA GE Slot 00C8 v1365 PXE 2.1 B
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.1GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4074MB RAM

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GT 730

I have some friends telling me that I should have just gotten a new PC but that's not an option right now. So I have to make do with what I have.

Any help or information would be very much appreciated, like I said I am completely new to this. Thanks for reading!

 

[Mandrake4565]

1. So I got MSI Afterburner and played around with it a bit. However, there was no noticeable improvement in the graphics or the framerate of the game I was playing at that time (Final Fantasy 14 to be exact) Am I doing something wrong?

Use should download Gpu-Z to make sure when you change the core clock and memory clock, the clock spd is actually changing.

2. When I use the Nvidia Control Panel, it goes up to a higher maximum core clock than MSI Afterburner can. Is this desirable? Should I not push it?

You can push it as far as it will go, if you're not changing the voltage as long as it's stable ie not artifacts or freezing. If you can change the voltage then you need to watch the temps also.

3. I should only adjust the memory clock when my core clock settings are stable right?

I will usually try and find the max core clock then set it back to default and then try to find the max memory clock. After I do that I will try and find the best combo for the game or benchmark I am trying to run.

4. Is it ok to push the fan as high as it can go?

Yes

5. Would it be worth overclocking anything besides the GPU? (CPU etc)

If it is a prebuilt system such as a dell or Hp you will most likely not have the ability to overclock it. It is also not a "K" chip according to you specs so if you did have the option you wouldn;t be able to OC much.

 

[Zandareagle]

Alright, thanks for the replies! I've downloaded GPU-Z and it reports that my core clock and memory settings have indeed changed. It also shows that my GPU load is really low (about 1-3%) even when I've maxed the settings on MSI Afterburner. That's good right?

Speaking of which, should I be using a different program for OCing? I can get the core clock up to about 1400 using Nvidia Control Panel, but only 910 in MSI Afterburner.

By best combo do you mean that higher numbers are not automatically better?

 

[Mandrake4565]

Speaking of which, should I be using a different program for OCing? I can get the core clock up to about 1400 using Nvidia Control Panel, but only 910 in MSI Afterburner.

If you can get it higher and stable with NVidia control the use that

By best combo do you mean that higher numbers are not automatically better?

All depends on the Gpu if you can max the OC on both Memory and Core clock and have it stable that's great but some Gpus you may not be able to max both at the same time. This is where playing with the OC will determine what is best for the game or benchmark being used. If you are not touching the voltage then just mess with the OC and see what works, you will not harm anything.

 

[Zandareagle]

Ok, that's good to know that if I don't touch the voltage nothing will happen. Is it really dangerous to mess with it? Maybe if I upped it like say, 5%?

 

[undefinedgamer]

first thing to do while overclocking is to get a better cooling, like bigger fan and bigger heatsink, cause stock cooling can barely prevent overheating at stock clocks. Stock coolers won't handle over-heating due to significantly higher clocks. And while overclocking, don't expect too much improvement. Only 5-10 frame gain at max. From stock clocks, you can upclock 40 hz more for core clock and then upclock 5 hz at a time. To have best overclock possible, end up overclocking 1hz at a time.

 

[EarthDog]

Not dangerous at all... no.

As far as the post above me..........

There is headroom built in to a lot of GPUs in the first place... which would allow them to handle overclocking. It all depends on the card and its cooler.

Mandrake has you well covered in this thread.

 

[Zandareagle]

Thanks for all the replies! They helped a lot in understanding things.